Rebecca MacKinnon's postings about work, reading, and ideas from 2004-2011.

April 05, 2006

Asking the Blogosphere: How's the media doing on the Iraq story?

The following is cross-posted from Global Voices Online. This is our first experiment in blogger-MSM dialogue. It will be fascinating to see what happens.

Is the media telling the truth about Iraq? Do you have an opinion on this issue?How does the nature, quality, and content of media coverage of the Iraq war ultimately impact the lives of people in Iraq, the Middle East and around the planet?

Several members of the Global Voices community will be live-blogging the event: Middle East/North Africa Editor Haitham Sabbah, Iraq contributor Salam Adil, Iraqi-Australian blogger who now lives in the U.S., Fayrouz Hancock, Omar of Iraq the Model blogging from Baghdad, and Iraqi blogger Raed Jarrar (who will be present in the room in New York).

We will have a live IRC chat which you can join (via the link above or on Freenode at #globalvoices. Read here for more instructions for getting on IRC, or you can use the client on the Reuters event site.). I will be present in the room as “IRC ambassador,” representing your questions and comments in the room and making sure that the panelists address as many as possible.

If you have views in advance, you can start sharing them now in several ways:

We’d really like to bring your opinions on these issues to a global audience beyond normal blog-readers through this online and offline forum. If you aren’t available to participate in the live online discussion on Wednesday, don’t worry. The Reuters web team will archive the video and make shorter highlights and quotes available as well. We’re also hoping to have a transcript of the IRC discussion. We will summarize, quote, and link to your reactions and opinions here on Global Voices in the days following the event. We’re looking forward to some lively comments threads and trackbacks!

FINAL NOTE: Global Voices participation in this Reuters’ Iraq Newsmaker event is an experiment in figuring out how to create positive interaction between mainstream media and bloggers – with the goal of bringing voices from citizens’ media to a wider audience. For more information about our relationship with Reuters, please see our FAQ.

Comments

The media are doing the best they can from the situation they are in. When things don't go right, it is a tradition in most governments to blame the media for their failures. This is common to just about every government in the world today. That is why many governments try to shut down the media or control it. It's also why shutting down the media often makes the problems worse rather than fixing them.

Iraq is in the midst of a civil war between religious groups who want to control the country. The Americans and their allies can do little to avert or control this situation. The best thing the Americans can do is get out of there and let history take its course. We couldn't stop or take control of the civil war in Vietnam and we won't be able to do it in Iraq, either.

The Iraqis are fighting for control of their lives and their country. The American forces are just trying to survive long enough to come home. We have no real interest in their country. Everyone involved is talking about when America will leave and let the Iraqis run their own country. Since we can't prevent a civil war without choosing one side or the other, the sooner we get out, the better.

The problem is the media had failed to educate the American people on the true nature of the war. It subscribed to the Gahmen's theory:

"US Gahmen said we attack Iraq because:
1) Saddam Hussein failed to comply with UN weapons inspection team to allow unfettered access time and again
"

But I clearly remembered the real situation. Ritter who at one time was a UN Inspector had been passing information from his inspections to the CIA. Iraq had been complaining about the UN leaking information to the CIA as a reason for Iraq to suspend weapons inspections. Later, Ritter admitted to leakign information about Iraq's weapons program to the CIA after he quit the UN; validating Iraq's claims.

Another reason for Iraq to suspend weapons inspection was that the UN provided no time table for completion of inspections. It appears that inspections would go on indefinitely.

Both of these reasons of the suspension of weapons inspection from the Iraqis side were completely ignored by the Western media during pre-war Iraq.

But Iraq is an American mistake. The tide against the war has made it impossible for America to reap the spoils of this war. It must now try to salvage its BATTERED image.

As a result, the American Gahmen has no choice but to leave now.

My predictions:
Iraq will become a vibrant democracy. The most popular political party in Iraq will be one that is pro-Islam like Hamas in the Palestine. Unless, America succeeds in installing a puppet government, otherwise, a revolution through legal means or illegal means should sweep Iraq like those that happened in Iran in the 1980s. Western interest in the Middle East will be further diminished as a result of the Iraq war and democracy.